From the Rawda

Medina has changed little since
the first time I visited this magical city over 10 years ago. The
presence of Habib, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, can be felt
in every part of the city. We, humans that is, have changed.

Back then Masjid al-Nabawi used to
shut after ‘isha and open again at tuhujjud, roughly at three am. On
one particular night I left my hotel early and joined about 30 other
fervent pilgrims at bab-as-salaam for the doors to open. No rush, no
pushing, no harm. With ease we reached the rawda, performed
tahatiyat-al-masjid and then I went to the sacred chamber to read my
salam. There I was, in front of the beloved, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, all alone at the tender age of 18 – wal hamdulillah. A
few minutes later an old man arrived in a wheelchair, escorted by (what
appeared to be) his adult children. They attempted to assist him to
stand, to which he vehemently opposed them and insisted he would stand
himself. He struggled, as he tried to lift himself up from his chair,
breathless, sweating and clearly weak due to old age. Eventually he
stood up, hands positioned as in salat and with an incredible amount of
adab that has served as a reminder for me ever since, he read his salam
with tears flowing. What a dars!

As for now – things have certainly
changed. As I was reading salam my concentration was suddenly broken by
the sound of a man shouting, “Aiwa, ana amam-al-nabi! Sallim ‘alaihi” (Yes,
I am in front of the Prophet, read greeting upon him). I looked up and
this man was aiming his mobile towards the sacred chamber – I presume so
the dude on the other line could read salaams. On another occasion a
chap decided to turn his back on Habib, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, and take a picture on his iPhone 4 of himself with the sacred
chamber in the background. Picturess for facebook I suppose…

I am not anti-technology, the
affects of technology is what is troubling me. From sisters posing with
the “west side” gesticulation outside of the haram in Mecca to families
filming their tawaf (seriously) on the HD camcorder – something is
seriously wrong with the Muslim condition.

The camera, on a basic level, is
totally based on the anatomy and physiology of the eye. The eye is the
door to the heart and the heart is the receptacle of Divine light.
Divine light can never be captured, it is felt and penetrated through to
the soul and the effects are everlasting and not abstract or short
lived. Perhaps it is this facebook, iPhone, “information at my
fingertip” culture that is slowly eating away at our souls and hardening
our hearts resulting in a total loss of adab, humility, courtesy and
gentleness.

Darul Iftaa (Institute of Islamic Jurisprudence) aims to provide insight into the Islamic perspective on personal, social, and global issues. We hope to enrich understanding, debate and discussion by providing an Islamic dimension to queries and specific concerns.